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The New Yorker Magazine has an article about the killing of 1 billion, yes billion, birds annually in Mediterranean countries – Italy, Sardinia, Greece, Malta, Cyprus and others – out of a migratory population of approximately 6 billion.

Migratory birds protected by European Union laws – all the above are members – but due to poor enforcement and out of respect for local custom and culture the killing continues. For many it is simply a blood sport, for others it is a business. Song birds, captured on glue sticks, are sold to restaurants and individuals, cooked and served very much like buffalo wings.

The slaughter is indiscriminate. This wholesale killing is putting many species on the endangered list. Since there is no limit or season many are shot on their migration northward where they go to breed.

This very much parallels the fisheries of the Mediterranean – over fished, with many varieties, once plentiful, now endangered.